Peter Jennings Way
EmailTuesday afternoon
Peter would never have described today as “bitter cold.” I can picture him now, crossing it out of someone’s script with a scribbled “cliché!” in the margin.
So about a hundred of us stood in the searing cold this morning to pay him tribute once more. At the corner of West 66th Street here, there is now a sign that marks the street in front of our building as “Peter Jennings Way.”
It’s just a green New York street sign, a little precarious in the winds that swirled between the buildings today, but it’s a nice touch. You have to look up to see it.
New York’s Mayor, Mike Bloomberg, gave a short speech: “It is only right that we honor a man who knew the world, traveled the world and brought it home to us every single night.”
Several local politicians talked about Peter being a neighborhood activist, looking out for the poor and the homeless, making friends with the hot-dog vendor at the corner of 67th. Rep. Jerrold Nadler, in whose district ABC’s building is located, gave a pointed reminder that “Peter knew that news is not entertainment.”
Peter’s daughter Elizabeth closed out: “We hope that this very meaningful gesture made by the city and the neighborhood will remind those people, especially the journalists as they walk down the block, of my father’s legacy, both as a generous and energetic member of the community and above all, a committed and compassionate journalist. We hope that this small sign will help ensure the survival of those very big values."
I once described the cold of outer space in a story as “searing,” and I remember Peter, wordsmith that he was, rolling it over on his tongue. “Sure,” he finally said. “The cold can be ‘searing.’”
I’ve been back inside for a couple of hours now, but I’m still shivering, looking down at my keyboard, feeling a touch lost.
Space Station Flies Over Eastern U.S. at Night 
RSS
Twitter
Facebook
A very moving tribute, Ned! An influential man whose like shall not come this way again.
Posted by: chuck | February 21, 2006, 3:23 pm 3:23 pm
Peter Jennings was a journalist/newscaster who literally stood head and shoulders above the rest. He is, indeed, sorely missed.
Nice tribute, Ned.
My hope is that ABCNews won’t go the way of other networks when it comes to “the news.” Please, no more “pretty boys” or “glam girls” that look good on camera but know squat about the news or the world around them. And no “spin-meisters” or “shock desk jocks” either.
I had high hopes with the Vargas/Woodruff team. But with Bob seriously injured (How is he doing, BTW?) and Vargas expecting to go out on maternity leave…
Who will fill the role? Charles Gibson? Diane Sawyer? You, Ned?
Posted by: redtech5 | February 22, 2006, 9:26 am 9:26 am
Thanks so much for the great info about the naming of Peter Jennings Way. I do hope to someday visit that great city and stand on that corner. He was a man of great integrity and my hope is that my four children will grow up to have that same amount of integrity. Peter was a fixture in our home and will continue to be even in his death. He continues to be missed each evening at 6:30.
Posted by: Diana Reynolds | February 22, 2006, 6:33 pm 6:33 pm
What a beautiful tribute to a great man! I still miss him terribly…he was a daily part of my life for many years and there will be none like him to follow!
Posted by: Donna Magill | February 23, 2006, 3:11 pm 3:11 pm
Ned, I’m still lost, too.
I’m happy about this honoring of Peter that you wrote of and also of the one I read about today–in Philadelphia, Journalism Center to Be Named for Jennings
- – - – - – - – - – - -
By KATHY MATHESON Associated Press Writer
February 23,2006 | PHILADELPHIA — The National Constitution Center will …establish a journalism institute named after late ABC News anchor Peter Jennings
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
My heart jumped when I read in a previous blog of yours that YOU READ THESE COMMENTS from the public, your audience, …me.
I feel so lost and worried without Peter because in the short term I don’t see anyone in the land of network news who bothers to wordsmith, who cares about what he reports, who scrupulously checks facts, who THINKS and therefore leads and sparks inquiry in other minds.
Believe it or not, I have resorted to Jon Stewart and his team’s writers for the nuggets in news.
Who will tell the audience why it’s more economical to make ethanol from corn not switchgrass? Who will get people thinking about energy by raising public consciousness for the need for a bridge strategy to get us from today’s power generation to the hoped-for-miracle (fusion?) or last resort (nuclear?) to the “next generatin of power generation?” There’s more natural gas at our disposal than oil…why aren’t people clamoring for megawatt generating fuel cells running on natural gas?
Ned, I hope you will step up to the bar, and I hope ABC gives you the opportunity.
There’s politics…and then there’s science. We couldn’t do better than George S. in the political arena–how about you to lead the rest?
I think Peter would think it’s a good idea.
Posted by: Karen_J_B | February 23, 2006, 4:06 pm 4:06 pm